Last night I spent a few hours comparing Music playback through a 2 channel system using FR/FL outputs of the OPPO. The path was OPPO93 to VAC CLA1MKII to Counterpoint NPS 400 to Clearfield Continental speakers and Mirage OM12 sub. The only thing that was not equal were the ICs used from the OPPO compared to what was hooked up to the Rotel. Rotel to VAC to CP to Speakers is all Synergistic Research cabling while I used AudioQuest Side Winder ICs to go from OPPO to VAC.

I played Regular CDs, HDCDs (ones that light up both players but are not marked as such but you can hear the difference) and CDRs.

First I played SRV - Tin Pan Alley, which is one of my reference tracks on the OPPO. I was pleasantly surprised. Nice laid back sound with pretty good detail but lacking in low end.

I also played Carl Filipiak - Looking Forward Looking Back which lights up the HDCD on both players. Not too sure if anyone here knows him but he is a guitar teacher from Baltimore with many disks and uses Dennis Chambers on drums for most studio work.

I also played YokeShire Masque of Shadows, another one that lights up the HDCD. Shape of a Dancer is another of my Reference tracks for bass.

Several other disks were played for comparison.

I played tracks on OPPO first then Rotel CDP and the other way. I know the 93 is a Universal Player and meant for DVD/Blu but does play music pretty well. I guess for those where the OPPO is truly an upgrade from what they have, they will be happy but the 93 is not even close to being in the same league as the Rotel for CD playback. Yes it plays and decodes lots of formats, which is one of the reasons I got it and to use it as a second player for multi zone setup.

So here are my observations.

OPPO is lacking in Low End and Midrange. Everything sounds as if it is an octave higher than the Rotel. It's really hard to articulate that here but think of how guitar players like to play with Tone. Also think how some metal tweeters get annoying after a while compared to most silk tweeters.

Detail and separation of instruments is lacking and more mushed together that the Rotel. It has a much less overall slam and a You Are There feel. Tone and timber of instruments are diminished / lacking and do not always sound as intended.

Presentation is somewhat analog sounding, sort of tuby compared to many players so I liked that part of the performance.

All that said, the 93 is probably a better music player than most mass market CDPs that people use but in no way come close to a decent dedicated CD/HDCD player like the Rotel, which is basically entry level high end and cost $600.

For those looking for a single player solution, and have nothing higher end to compare to or replace, I think you will be very happy using the OPPO 93 as a universal player. If I had to pick just one player in this range, it would be this one. If I didn't already have the Rotel and needed a high end, one player solution, I would have definitely gone for the 95.

Cheers and Happy Playback!